Deewar Chot

We were posted at a beautiful valley village. The valley was beautiful, like a dream. But it was deeply infested with militants, and there was a constant threat of insurgency and skirmish. There was a particular stretch on the highway which was an open space and ideal spot for an ambush. It was prone to repeated attacks on civilian transport and armed forces personnel. Our commanding officer, on the first day, directed us to prepare “for all possibilities” every single day. From that day, we strategised all scenarios of a militant attack on that place. We practised for ambush, attacks on local bus transport, open encounters between militants and forces, and every conceivable possibility.

The preparation could never satisfy our commanding officer. The weather in most months was punishing. It was so cold that it was impossible to step out without our full gear. Even a minute spent outside without a cap could be fatal. On days when it was nearly impossible to even step out, we were preparing, doing mock drills against an invisible enemy using dummies. It made each and every one of us question why were we doing this when we had done it for nearly 9 months or more. It felt like an overkill.

We had confidence that we had prepared for every single type of threat. But our commanding officer would insist, push and force us to keep preparing for an attack we didn’t know if it were to ever take place or not. One day I asked our commanding officer why he insisted on this repetition. He gave me one of the most brilliant mental models that I have ever, ever learned. It felt like fresh roses, like fresh ink and the warmth of the sun in snowclad mountains. The officer narrated his thoughts.

“I see daily planning as the crackers I used to enjoy during Diwali. We called them Deewar Chot (दीवार चोट). They are tiny crackers which are burst on a wall or on the floor and make small noise. They are incapable of harm but can produce the impact of a cracker, and the kids enjoy them thoroughly. I see our daily routine as this long enjoyment. The tactics we keep deploying are like those of Deewar Chot. They are repeated tiny habits which prepare us for longer enjoyment. We never know what will happen in real life. We have no idea what type of real threat we will have to fight, so we prepare in tiny bursts. When the reality unfolds, it will always be different from what we practised because it can’t be the same. Those who are prepared more than needed are also unprepared. You can prepare only when the fog of war hasn’t engulfed your mind because when it does, you will be half the man you should be.”

When an actual incident took place, we understood, once again, how reality is a version of our preparation but mostly an alien experience. The attack took place in a scenario which we had practised but yet seemed alien. The militants had taken hold of an empty bus and were heavily armed. Surprisingly, we could diffuse the situation without a single bullet fired. Our negotiator could talk the militants out of it. Again, an outcome practised but not expected often.”

The incident narrated above is from one of my friends in the armed forces. It lacks all the key details because they are confidential. What it doesn’t lack is the most important message that it serves. The small ‘Deewar Chot’, those tiny daily actions, lay the path to lifelong fulfilment. That the reality is alien is surprisingly true. We live our daily lives in a fog. We act like we are sleepwalking through life. When hard situations are presented, most of us freeze. A sort of fog engulfs our mind and we are no longer able to function even at our normal level. When it is time to act, we become emotional or incapable. Tiny repetitions of assumed reality make us capable of unfreezing when the going gets tough.

These words of the commanding officer hit me like a rock – “Those who are prepared more than needed are also unprepared. You can prepare only when the fog of war hasn’t engulfed your mind because when it does, you will be half the man you should be.”

Prepare when you are capable of preparing.

When it’s the time to act, you will be able to act only if you have trained for it when it wasn’t needed.

Keep using “Deewar Chot”.

This blog was originally published here.